The Sporting Lions took the Hinckley Air Rifle League’s 2013-2014 league title with an easy win at the home of Ashby Road.

The first half demonstrated the dominance exerted by the Lions throughout the season as Glen Dainter’s opening 30 was followed by Todd Astill’s 27, a 17th successive league 30 from Karl Bunting, a 29 from Jeanette Mulkeirins, and a 28 from Ian Roberts.

The response from an unusually weak Ashby Road began well with Alison Finney’s 29, and there were 27s from Lorraine White and Richard White, but they also had to count a couple of 21s. The quality of the shooting from the Lions’ second half dipped but was still better than their opponents’, with 28s from Lee Johnson and Simon Marshall, plus Pete Dainter’s 27 helping them to 200 and 10 points. The Ashby Road second half started with a 22 which was followed by a match closing 28 from Seamus Moore which took their final totals to just 175 and six points.

Ashby Road B fared much better in their match away to the Trojans. The two first halves were evenly matched with Ashby Road’s two 29s (Neil Price and Craig Shuttleworth) and a 28 (Jon Storer) being met with a 30 (Mark Smith) and a couple of 28s (Leigh Hall and Nigel Jackson). Mike Sansome’s 27 got Ashby Road’s second half off to a reasonable start and this was soon improved on a Tom Middleton and Jeff Goodyer closed for the visitors with 30 and 29 respectively taking their totals to 1978 and 11. The Trojans very nearly managed to match this as Emma Sik’s 28, Roger Sills’ 27 and Chris Sills’ closing 30 giving them 197 and 11 points.

There was another close result at Bedworth Ex Servicemen’s Club where the home side played host to Taylor & Ayre. T&A shot first and had the best of the first half with 28s from Alyson Steele and Jim Gibney, a Steve Vincent 29, and a 30 from Giles Headley giving them the edge over Andrew Cryer’s 27, Jackie Bend’s 29 and James Bend’s 30. T&A lost momentum after the break with their best second half scores being Alison Smith’s 27 and the 28 of Darren Hicks but these were enough to take them to reasonable totals of 196 and 7 points. Bedworth did slightly better with a Bill Bend 30 and Robert Wagstaff’s 27, and these took them to both defeat and victory with 195 and 8 points.

The match between the New Plough Inn and the visiting Stoney Stanton brought mixed fortunes for both teams, the visitors winning the league match whilst the home side came out on top in the points match. The Ploughmen started the match with a trio of 25s before a 28-30-27-28 sequence from Nigel Hill, John Bray, Tom Bray and Paul Barwell took them to 188 and 10 points. The Stanton reply commenced with a 28 from Andrew Mitchell and this was followed by successive 27s from Brian Allen and Richard Allen. Paul Huddlestone’s 30 closed the first half for Stanton whilst Andy Smith’s second half 28 helped them to 191 and 8 points.

The Hinckley Phoenix-Smallshaws match ended with the home side on top in both competitions. The best scores in the home side’s 186 and 8 points were the 27s of Samantha Haskins, Fred Knowles and Andy Smith, plus a 28 from top-shot Roxy Ratheram, whilst for Smallshaws there were 27s from John Stevenson and Jackie West, and a closing 28 from Bob West that took their totals to 182 and 7 points.